The present invention relates generally, but not exclusively, to an article of furniture.
In a stadium, where large numbers of identical items of furniture such as chairs, are provided, it is usual for there to be made with a tipping seat to enable spectators to walk along the rows to reach a particular numbered seat.
Sporting events, such as baseball or football involving two teams often have areas of the stadium set aside for the supporters of one or other of the teams. Until now the seating for spectators supporting one team has been indistinguishable from that for spectators supporting the other team and no distinction can be made between them.
The present invention provides an article, particularly an article of furniture, at least a portion of which is shaped and decorated whereby to provide a simulation of an article having a fabric article arranged over it. The simulation may, for example, be achieved by the shape of the said portion and/or the texture of its surface and/or its surface decoration. The fabric article to be simulated may be, but not necessarily, of textile or other relatively thin, supple material usable for garments and furnishing purposes.
The article may be part of an item of furniture or may be a complete item of furniture over which it is customary to place a fabric article; examples include a towel rail, a coat stand, a table top or a chair back, which might be covered with a cloth. The fabric article simulated may thus be a generally flat article which may look as if it is hanging in folds on its support, or a three-dimensional garment which holds its own shape or conforms to the shape of the body or object over which it is placed. An article made in accordance with the invention may thus comprise, for example, a chair back having a dependant flap or flaps simulating a shirt hanging over it; such an article may conveniently be moulded integrally from plastics material, the clothing-simulating portion having a textured surface simulating a woven fabric and/or bearing a design such as those used on garments such as shirts or t-shirts.
The dependent flap or flaps simulating a shirt also has the property of offering a large flexible area in the region of the lower back to provide additional lumbar support which, because it is only supported at an upper edge, provides a high degree of comfort for the user.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the article comprises a chair back adapted to simulate an equivalent back over which a garment has been hung. The chair back preferably comprises or includes a panel of plastics material or other suitable material, such as wood, plywood or sheet metal, which can be cut, shaped or moulded to the required form and/or on which an image of the fabric article can be formed or applied. Whatever the material used, the front face of the chair back against which the sitter rests in preferably flat or smoothly curved, that is, having the normal shaping for chair back so as not to have any protuberances which might cause discomfort to the user. Any fabric simulation on the front face of the chair back is thus preferably in the form of a generally two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional garment being simulated in a xe2x80x9ctrompe l""oeilxe2x80x9d fashion. The rear face of the chair back may, on the other hand, be formed or provided with a two- or three-dimensional representation of the article, the back panel optionally being extended beyond the normal extent of backrests to provide for any extension of the garment being simulated beyond the backrest.
Features and characteristics of the invention will become more clearly apparent from a consideration of the detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings and provided without limitation to the invention defined in the appended claim.